Roses | ziam.

Lying Latent

Upon seeing the amount of food on Niall's plate, Zayn and Barbara exchanged a glance. Wordlessly, Zayn hurried towards the buffet table, procured two sets of cutlery and two plates and scurried back. As if they had an unspoken agreement, Zayn and Barbara calmly divided Niall's food into three parts and briskly transferred each bit onto their own plates.

"Why do you two always have to do this all the time?" The blond said petulantly and looked down sadly at his diminished portion.

"That's because you need to have some semblance of decorum at events like this, Ni! There're important people around here that you might be working with in the future, and it's not a good idea if they see you stuffing your face like this! You are working for the Ministry, after all," Barbara pointed out in her usual matter-of-fact tone as she shook her hair free and clipped it back with a red ribbon.

There was a moment of silence as the trio of 23-year-olds basked in the regal atmosphere of the hotel ballroom. Zayn's eyes were still straying distractedly towards Liam, though, his senses in freefall because of Liam's addictive aroma that had become more concentrated due to their short proximity away from the brunette.

"Zayn? Zayn! I asked you a question!" Niall said, nudging his friend.

"Sorry, my mind was on... other things," Zayn mumbled, reluctantly tearing his gaze from the brunette. Barbara tilted her head quizzically and beamed playfully at Niall.

"Do you detect anything... special in the air, Niall?" She asked and raised her eyebrows meaningfully at Zayn.

Obligingly, Niall scrunched up his nose and sniffed the air warily. Gradually, Niall's face melted into a gooey smile, his mouth forming an 'O' of sheer happiness. His eyes fluttered closed and he breathed deeply, inhaling batch-fuls of air before sighing blissfully.

"Bloody hell, that smells absolutely divine. That's something remarkable, I can tell you. If I could smell nothing but that for the rest of my life, I'll die a happy man," Niall practically moaned.

Zayn and Barbara shared an alarmed look. "Ni, you're actually... erm... smelling Liam," Barbara said, wincing. The blond's eyes immediately snapped open, a sliver of distaste swiftly replaced by a flash of confusion.

"Liam.. Payne?! Weren't we talking about roast chicken?" Niall squawked and gestured heatedly towards the buffet table. "Anyway, Liam's here?" Niall queried, craning his head.

"Don't look, Ni! He's staring right at us!" Zayn squeaked and immediately ducked his head, fire gathering rapidly in his cheeks. Sure enough, Liam fixed them with an amused glance, before insinuating back into the conversation carrying out between Charlie and the other man.

"Sorry, mate," Niall grinned and forked some more potato into his mouth.

"Do you remember during our final year how we would give the boys in our school marks upon ten on their bums, Zayn?" Barbara said, laughing.

"Yeah! Justin got a seven, Harry an eight, and Liam a... nine point five," Zayn gulped as he stuck a finger in his collar to loosen it slightly. "Although I definitely think he deserves a perfect ten now," the raven-haired lad whispered as an afterthought, his eyes licking Liam's arse and legs hungrily.

"You just broke up with Gigi, Zayn. Isn't it a bit too early to be checking out other people, least of all Liam Payne?"

"It's been six months since we broke up, Ni," Zayn reminded while he toyed blankly with the smooth, waxy leaves of the decorative orchid on their table.

Niall shrugged his shoulders dismissively, but immediately picked up the conversational thread again. "What score did my butt get?" he asked, puffing himself up importantly and sticking his own arse out proudly.